Krystal Merrick and Dan Evans from the NZRT-12 Emergency Response/Rescue Team travel up the Heathcote River flooding waters along Riverlaw Terrace in their new rescue boat, donated from the lotteries ministry travel with a Red Cross member from RC23 team.

Council engineers are looking at two options for permanently protecting low-lying homes in the St Albans-Mairehau area from further flooding but Mayor Lianne Dalziel says even if the work can be fast-tracked it is likely to take two years - better than the five years previously expected.

Shirley Bakery worker Harmony Evans, 19, told Key that despite flooding their bakers kept the oven going yesterday. "We had all these orders to fill we just couldn't not deliver," she said.

Floods add to 'anxiety and stress'

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel said the flooding had added "another layer of anxiety and stress'' on already stressed people and was going to require a massive cleanup exercise.

"We could not have predicted with the forecast we had the extent of the flooding which occurred,'' she said.

The government had pledged to offer whatever help it could and all the agencies were working together.

The Student Volunteer Army had also been re-activated to help with the cleanup.

Hundreds remain without power

Most roads and schools have reopened today as the floodwaters recede, but Orion chief executive Rob Jamieson said about 650 homes were still without power this morning - most in Banks Peninsula.

"The ones in Christchurch are the result of flooding so we've got to wait until the water's receded. There's a pocket of 30 customers in Linwood without power, they're a priority to get sorted."

It was possible some people could be without power again tonight - most likely those in remote bays in Banks Peninsula.

"It's the underfoot conditions really. It's the risk of slips and just the sheer effort of getting there," he said.

"In the city, it's really dependent on water receding and us cleaning out the equipment and letting it dry."

Jamieson urged those whose homes had flooded to get their properties checked out by an electrician as soon as possible.

Canterbury's weather will be settled for the next two days, which will help hundreds of residents with the cleanup of their properties.

In Christchurch, MetService said the weather was expected to be mainly fine, with a bit of morning and evening cloud and a high of 19 degrees Celsius.

Tomorrow is expected to be much the same, but a southerly change on Saturday morning will bring showers to the city.

"It's quite a different situation to the rain that we had yesterday, so it shouldn't be a big deal," severe weather forecaster Chris Noble said."What looks to be coming through on Saturday is pretty trivial by comparison."

HEATHCOTE HOME AWASH

Next to the Heathcote River, Dion Farmer's home on the corner of Aynsley Tce and Opawa Rd was awash.

Farmer had only recently moved back into the house after five weeks of earthquake repairs. His wife, Emma, was on the phone again to their insurance company. "We've been here 28 years and this is the first time it's flooded in the house. It's pretty shocking," he said.

"I feel a bit sort of gutted - we'd been looking forward to coming home. Having said that, there are people worse off than us so we can't really complain," he said.

Debs Sinclair said she had been trying to get someone to check the water that comes up on her land since the February 2011 earthquake.

"I had EQC out in the early days, but nothing happened. I'm trying basically to get a proper inspection done."

Her Hargood St property had been constantly flooded since the February 2011 earthquake, with water and silt stuck under the house.

"There's water there all the time. There was water there when it was 30 degrees the other week," she said.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said houses needing urgent repairs because of the "one in 100-year flood" would get government help.

He said Fletcher EQR would manage urgent repairs for damage caused by the flooding.

The process would be similar to the emergency repair process in the earthquakes, he said.

"Where there are earthquake issues that have been exacerbated by the weather, or new issues that have arisen which are not urgent but need attention, we encourage people to contact 0800 777 846 so that we can find solutions for them," he said.